A Trip to Whakatiwai:

Thames Star, Volume IIII, Issue 1759, 22 August 1874, Page 3

A Trip to Whakatiwai:

By a VisitorWhakatiwai? Yes, I have'] just re- : turned, at least part of me, all that has not quite dissolved in that region of beauty and luxurious excess of moisture. I" enjoyed the passage extremely, tho seasawing up and down on the billows of the briny deep brought up a wild feeling, a sort of " gay pirate " expression of the soul irresistibly affecting. I felt my bosom heaving with emotion,, (or something else) and so did the ladies.-if I may judge by the " dying dolphin " shades of complexion that came stealing over their sweet faces; -•;-"" - - '" "Nothing in t\em that did fade \" A Hut .did suffer a Ma-change '- : ;j , „ lato^—-" -' '-- • - *-■ ' ' No, IdKOn't. I lcve them all, and won't say it.^Jpo boat, neared the shore, and a dense * _uob-of Coloured "humanity ■ came • dashingaout to meet us flinging up the ■ «urfaan4dstirrpMding us with a ring of tattooed niggey faces. Tnere were the tanguard of the swarthy army 1 assembled in council/onthed»ho re s of Whakatiwai. They ...were not .overburdened with the vesture that-cramps the effeminated limbs of, your-; civilised; man—rin fact, I think that, if they, had to prqd,uce half a shirt among six'of them it would ;havo taxed their ■ re'soiarces>to the utmost, and of other garments there were none. We" were dragged put of the boats by brawny aifhis and carried to the . beach—to some a pleasant process, perhaps, but as I am of a rather portly build and, my} bearer by no means a gigantic specimen of his race, my feet dragged in the water, and, I sat in mortal fear and dread hugging his slippery hidedtill at last to my great joy the soles of my ifeet touched the safe and happy shore. I had my revenge though: I aim sure that I pinched out atleast half a dozen joints from his spinal column in my feaPibefore riarided and bestbwe'dfthe grateful sixpence. iThenli.could stand at my: ease and watch the disembarkation of the others: it was pleasant to see those fair ladies who I had. been ogling through my glasses all the'voyage in tbe.grasp of the delighted savage. They were caught up regardless ,of the " set"., of their petticoats and with ' utter contempt for-the display of • .ankles and finery which their'transports'-in differ)ent positions induced. 1 Oh, the squawking; and- the screams ! When they had been sat dowh, : each was.attended by her Maori porter (in his tight fitting brpwn , suit), who shrieked, " Sickapenny ! Sick- | apenny!" and as the fair De\ng turned away to avoid seeing the , outstretched hand, her persecutor would dance round again in front, to her great embarrassment, till the money was paid by some attendant gentleman who would rush to the rescue. But Whakatiwai? What is Whakatiwai like ? Well, it's most like [ a liquid bootjack ; if anyone wants to keep iVIs boots from "being pulled off by the \rcud (which is about six inches deep and jas sticky as pudding), he must getthera jwelLgiued on Lofore leaving Shortland. There is nothing, absolutely nothing to . ace, bub long linos of tents and piles of roughly henped raupo under "which Maoris, pigs and dogs stew together. There are a few good whores and some ■tore tents in which the aboriginal inhav bitaht and tbe grasping pakeha share' amicably together the fire-water of the white man, which is, of course, of best quality, and warranted not to kill at more thanfiftyyards. Therewasnotmuchtosef' unless you are very fond of science or hunting. You could notice how education has improved the Maori when you found him engaged in the study of entomology in the hair of a friend, or beheld tho dusky descendant of warriors pursuing with ardour the pleasures of the chase on a happy hunting-ground of blanket. I wanted to become more' acquainted with the great and free people among whom we live, and also to add to' my lore by further knowledge of their language, so I accosted a good-natured looking specimen of the race, and said " Teenaqueo." He promptly answered-*with one simple word, " Going to shout," spoken in an interrogative way. Accepting it as a prelude to further pleasant intercourse and distinction I gave my assent, and after having duly "likered up"- we went about and saw the lions of the place. (Ah, me 1 what muddy lions they were.) We went down to the beach to see the sports going on—wrestling and leaping with the pole seeming to be the most favourite pastimes among the youthful I population, 1 liked .the leaping with the I pole, it looked so graceful and easy that, at last I fl tried' it. myself. Yes, I leapt I once, only once, and if ever I have a i friend;to whom" I owe a grudge (and 1' every one has some one friend of that I sort) I will get him to try leapingpwith , the pole. I started beautifully^ went up j in the aubhit myself- between' the' eyes" 1 withTthwlKck, and came down on my' latter end jhpon the'pebbles and 'sand.' Jt. wa^ye^yfraceful.but not nice-r-Imust' say, not nice. The only fcher thing that I could perceive to do wasato go down ta the beach and eat oysters; so I started.; I found three oysters stuck .together, as close as ever a ' dun stuck* tome, but I managed to get them apart; then I got a round s'terier'and hit at'oyster No. 1, I' tar " bit at" advisedly, because I did not hit v the oyster but I did hit my thumb—l nearly knocked it into the consistency of a jelly fish. I stood blowing the unfortunate member for some moments, contemplatively, with my mind fall of longing and my mouth full of naughty words—-the longing (unfulfilled, alas) for the oyster; the naughty words for the stone which had used me so •cruelly. By this time it was nearly the hour of departure: so I strolled down to t^e beach, some' distance from which the steamer was lyipg and making life unbearable jvith.her whistle, jpoard, fujl of delight with my excursion tp'Whakatiwai and regfet at once wore having to return to the trammels of < civilized life at Shortland.